IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL.

2, 2003 197

A Comparison of the Resonant Properties of Small

Space-Filling Fractal Antennas
Steven R. Best, Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract—The resonant properties of several small planar

space-filling fractal antennas are considered over a range of
self-resonant frequencies. These space-filling antennas have
differing geometries and total wire length, but occupy the same
planar area. The resonant properties considered include radiation
resistance, efficiency, and quality factor. It is demonstrated that
the resonant properties of these antennas are essentially the same,
independent of significant differences in antenna geometry and
total wire length.
Index Terms—Fractal antennas, fractals, small antennas.

I. INTRODUCTION

W HILE fractal geometry has been reported to be uniquely

beneficial in the design of small antennas [1], [2], it has
recently been demonstrated that antenna geometry alone, fractal
or otherwise, does not uniquely determine the electromagnetic
Fig. 1. The Hilbert curve fractal monopole antennas.
properties of the small antenna [3], [4]. Rather, the radiation
properties of small antennas (of the same type), specifically
radiation resistance and quality factor (which provides an in-
dication of antenna bandwidth), are primarily a function of the
antenna’s size relative to the resonant wavelength and are essen-
tially independent of the total wire length and geometry used to
establish the resonant frequency.
Here, the resonant properties of several planar, space-filling
fractal antennas are considered to investigate whether the results
and conclusions obtained in [3] and [4] hold for antennas of this
type. In comparing the behavior of these antennas over a range
of resonant frequencies, it is demonstrated that their resonant
properties are essentially the same, even though there are very
significant differences in their total wire length and geometry.
This leads to the conclusion that the resonant properties of these
antennas are primarily a function of their occupied planar area.
However, in comparing several variations of these planar an-
tennas, it is shown that the perimeter occupied by the total wire Fig. 2. The mod-Minkowski fractal planar monopole antennas.
length can affect the antenna’s resonant properties, even though
the occupied planar area remains unchanged. It is shown that the and mounted vertically over an infinite perfectly conducting
changes in resonant behavior occuring as a function of occupied ground plane. All of these antennas occupy a planar area of
perimeter length are not significant as a function of differing an- 15.7 cm 15.7 cm (246.5 ) and have a wire diameter of
tenna geometries and total wire lengths. 0.5 mm. The specific geometries analyzed include the Hilbert
curve fractal monopole, a mod-Minkowski fractal planar
II. THE SPACE FILLING FRACTAL ANTENNAS monopole, a Koch fractal planar monopole, a Tee fractal planar
monopole, and several meander line planar monopoles. All of
The planar space filling fractal antennas considered here are
these antennas were analyzed using the NEC 4.1 calculating
all fed as monopole-type structures in that they are base fed
engine of EZNEC Pro [5]. These antenna geometries are
depicted in Figs. 1 – 6.
Manuscript received July 14, 2003; revised August 28, 2003. In the design of these planar antennas, no attempt was made
The author is with the AFRL/SNHA, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731 USA
(e-mail: steven.best@verizon.net). to match either the antennas’ total wire length or resonant fre-
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LAWP.2003.819680 quency. Rather, the antennas were configured to fill the occupied
1536-1225/03$17.00 © 2003 IEEE
198 IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 2, 2003

Fig. 6. The meander-line planar monopole antennas.

Fig. 3. The Koch fractal planar monopole antennas.

Fig. 7. Radiation resistance of the different antenna configurations as a

function of resonant frequency.

Fig. 4. The Tee fractal planar monopole antennas.

Fig. 5. The Box meander-line planar monopole antennas.

planar area through either a full or pseudo self-similar fractal

iteration process, as in the case of the fractal planar antennas
(Figs. 1 – 4) or through a random increase in total wire length,
as in the case of the meander-line antennas (Figs. 5 , 6).
III. RESONANT ANTENNA PROPERTIES
The physical and resonant properties of these antennas are de-
tailed in Table I. Graphical comparisons of each antenna’s res-
onant radiation resistance and quality factor ( ) are presented
in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively. The antenna was determined
using the following expression [6], which has been shown to
Fig. 8. Quality factor of the different antenna configurations as a function of
resonant frequency.
be proportional to the inverse of the antenna’s matched voltage
standing wave ratio (VSWR) bandwidth at all frequencies
(1)
where the derivative of at each frequency is determined after
the antenna has been tuned with a lossless series reactance.
BEST: COMPARISON OF PROPERTIES OF SPACE-FILLING FRACTAL ANTENNAS 199

TABLE I
RESONANT PROPERTIES OF THE PLANAR SPACE FILLING FRACTAL ANTENNAS

The of the antennas is presented for the case where the an-
tennas are lossless, i.e., the antenna’s feed point impedance ,
is determined without including conductor loss. To determine
the of the lossy antenna, the lossless is multiplied by the
antenna efficiency factor. Alternately, (1) can be used where
the feed point impedance , is determined including conductor
loss. The antenna quality factor is presented rather than band-
width because it is a single value quantity that is inversely pro-
portional to bandwidth for any chosen accepted power level or
matched VSWR value [6]. This avoids the ambiguity of directly
specifying bandwidth in terms of a specific accepted power level
or arbitrary choice of VSWR.
In examining the resonant properties of these antennas, it is
first evident that their resonant radiation resistances and quality
factors are not very practical. This is primarily a function of
the fact that the antennas are relatively small with respect to
the resonant wavelength. However, these antennas behave in a
manner consistent with previous results in that with increasing Fig. 9. The arbitrary meander line geometries having a wire end point
iteration or total wire length, the resonant frequency, resonant specifically located to match those of the Hilbert curve fractal planar monopole
antennas.
radiation resistance and efficiency decrease. Additionally, there
is an increase in the antenna , indicating that the antennas’
resonant bandwidth decreases as well. Another important point to note is that the resonant proper-
The resonant radiation resistance and quality factors of these ties of the Hilbert curve planar fractal antenna are somewhat
antennas do not differ significantly for a given resonant fre- different than those of the other antenna configurations. Exam-
quency. This is significant considering that there are substantial ining the geometry of the Hilbert fractal curve and comparing
differences in the antennas’ total wire lengths and geometries. it with the other geometries, a significant physical difference is
This indicates that the resonant properties of these antennas are evident. Specifically, the wire end in the Hilbert fractal curve is
primarily a function of the occupied planar area and they are es- located at the upper right of the antenna structure while the wire
sentially independent of antenna geometry or total wire length. end in the other configurations is brought back toward the an-
When the practical effects of conductor loss are considered, tenna feed point. This occupied perimeter or end point location
the resonant properties will differ somewhat between the causes the antennas to exhibit slightly different resonant prop-
various configurations. The resonant efficiency decreases erties.
with increasing antenna iteration due to the increase in total Evidence of this is provided by creating arbitrary me-
wire length. Decreasing efficiency causes the antenna’s total ander-line geometries where the wire end is located at the
resonant resistance to increase beyond the radiation resistance upper right of the antenna structure as in the Hilbert curve
and the antenna’s quality factor to decrease, increasing the fractal. These meander line configurations are depicted in
effective bandwidth of the antenna. Optimizing the resonant Fig. 9. The total wire length in each of these configurations is
performance properties of these planar antennas essentially be- as follows: ML2A: 119.6 cm, ML3A: 169.1 cm, ML4A: 193.1
comes an exercise in choosing a geometry that is self-resonant cm, and ML5A: 224.1 cm. The resonant radiation resistance
with the least amount of total wire length. and quality factors of these antennas are compared with those
200
Fig. 10. Radiation resistance of the Hilbert curve planar fractal antennas and
the adjusted meander line configurations, both have the wire end at the same
location.
Fig. 11. Quality factor of the Hilbert curve planar fractal antennas and the
adjusted meander line configurations, both have the wire end at the same
location.
IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 2, 2003
of the Hilbert curve fractal planar monopoles in Figs. 10 and
11, respectively. Considering the significant differences in their
total wire lengths and geometries, it is significant to note the
similarity in their resonant behavior.
IV. DISCUSSION
The resonant properties of several planar, space-filling fractal
antennas were considered over a range of resonant frequencies.
It was shown that the resonant frequency, radiation resistance,
efficiency and bandwidth (being inversely proportional to
quality factor) decrease with increasing antenna iteration
or increasing total wire length. It was also shown that the
resonant properties of these antennas are essentially identical,
independent of differences in the antenna geometry and total
wire length, indicating that their resonant behavior is primarily
established by their occupied area.
It was also shown that the resonant properties of these an-
tennas are a function of the perimeter occupied by their total
wire length. While the resonant properties of these antennas
change as a function of occupied perimeter, these changes are
not remarkably significant considering the substantial differ-
ences in the antennas’ geometries and total wire length.
REFERENCES
[1] C. Puente-Baliarda, J. Romeu, and A. Cardama, “The Koch monopole:
A small fractal antenna,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. 48, pp.
1773–1781, Nov. 2000.
[2] K. J. Vinoy, K. A. Jose, V. K. Varadan, and V. V. Varadan, “Hilbert curve
fractal antenna: A small resonant antenna for VHF/UHF applications,”
Microwave Opt. Tech. Lett., vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 215–219, May 2001.
[3] S. R. Best, “On the performance properties of the Koch fractal and other
bent wire monopoles,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. 51, pp.
1292–1300, June 2003.
[4] , “On the resonant properties of the Koch fractal and other bent
wire monopole antennas,” IEEE Antennas Wireless Propagat. Lett., vol.
1, pp. 74–76, 2002.
[5] R. Lewallen. EZNEC Pro 3. [Online]. Available: www.eznec.com
[6] A. D. Yaghjian and S. R. Best, “Impedance, bandwidth and Q of
antennas,” in Proc. 2003 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symp.,
Columbus, OH, June 2003.